Officers who were investigating a killing busted into the wrong Texas house in a botched raid, officials said, leading to the suspension of Galveston’s police chief.
City Manager Brian Maxwell placed Police Chief Doug Balli on a 10-day administrative leave Friday in connection with an alleged “failure of communication regarding the January 22 search,” according to a City Hall statement released Monday.
Assistant Police Chief Andre Mitchell has been appointed acting chief of the department.
SWAT officers raided a home looking for a 17-year-old boy accused of killing 25-year-old Malik Dunn on Jan. 20, officials said.
The teenager who was being sought by police does not live at that home and was later cleared of any involvement in the slaying, officials said.
“During the search, officers determined the suspect was not located in the residence,” a City Hall statement said Monday. “Later, after performing the search, the department received new information contradicting the initial basis for the arrest.”
Balli, the chief, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday afternoon at several publicly listed phone numbers.
Erika Rios, who lives at the house that was raided, told NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston that she and her children were asleep when police showed up.
“About 2 a.m., we were awakened by wooden pellets flying through our doors and sounds of the Galveston Police Department (saying) ‘Come out with your hands up,'” Rios told the station.
Her daughter, Chelsea Peralez, said the whole experience left her shaken.
“I was scared, screaming,” Peralez told KPRC. “I ended up going to my brother, asking what they were doing, and they continuously kept shooting the wooden pellets.”
Rios could not be reached for comment Monday. The family’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, said the family will speak publicly about the raid during a news conference Wednesday.
The Galveston mayor and city manager officials said they only learned about the raid through news reports on…
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